Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.45: Gene Colan

No.45: Gene Colan

Perhaps the original master of mood and shadow in his art style, Gene Colan was one of the best artists at Marvel in the company’s 60s / 70s heyday, his subtle, filmic pencils providing some of the era’s best work on titles such as Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Captain America and above all Daredevil, the character he was most identified with. If anything, Colan was the wild card at the Marvel Bullpen, his artwork having little connection with the house style formulated by the much-emulated Jack Kirby – his tales tended towards the off-kilter in their tone, but nevertheless were a perfect fit for the time, especially when he was working in tandem with legendary inker Tom Palmer. Words: Andrew Colman…

© Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons

Having been briefly at Fiction House earlier in the 1940s, Colan returned to the industry after military service in 1946, working at publishers such as Ace, Quality and Ziff-Davis. He then moved to Timely, where he worked on various crime titles as well as drawing the cover of the final issue of Captain America Comics, the horror-themed issue 75. After Timely downsized in 1948, Colan moved to DC and got steady work on the publisher’s Big 5 war books, something he excelled at due to his attention to authenticity and detail. He also drew numerous war and horror comics for Atlas, the 50s iteration of Marvel. It was at Atlas that one could see signs of his mastery of noir and mystery, such as the cover for Adventures into Terror 27, a graphically bizarre and vivid turn from the young artist.

Despite his time at Atlas he was back at DC when the Marvel Age of comics took off in earnest, but by the mid-60s he had been coaxed back by Stan Lee, which was when his career had lift off. Basically given free rein by Lee to create his own pencilling footprint, Colan’s long tenure on Daredevil saw his artwork develop from a generic formal style into the more loose, dynamic and evocative classicism he was known for. By the end of the 60s he proved that his art could change with the times, his work becoming more dynamic and contemporary, as well as adapting to more psychedelic series such as Doctor Strange.

Colan reached his apex as an artist in the early 70s – having co-created the Falcon in Captain America, and moonlighted at Warren Magazines on horror books such as Creepy and Eerie, he understood exactly what his strengths were. The medium was moving in a very different direction from the recently ended Silver Age, with other genres making a comeback, and when the Tomb of Dracula series was mooted by Stan Lee, Colan lobbied him to be penciller on the title. Lee, who had other ideas, relented, and Colan, working with writer Marv Wolfman, went on to produce seventy issues of a terrific run. Blending gothic horror with espionage and adventure elements, Colan’s efforts on the strip made it a surprise hit within fandom, his pencils almost entirely relying on mood and darkness, while providing drama and depth of characterization. The breakout episode of the series was in issue 10, with the first appearance of Blade, the Vampire Slayer.

Of equal importance was his work with Steve Gerber on Howard the Duck, beginning in 1976. This satirical, zany and subversive series was classic Gerber, who had habitually produced strange, verbose and deeply personal efforts at Marvel – but in this particular case he also managed to capture the zeitgeist, the book becoming a crossover hit that gained media attention. Again Colan’s pencils were perfect for the title, lending it a surreal, skewed edge.

Colan left Marvel for DC in 1981, citing irreconcilable professional differences with recently installed Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. His move back to National immediately brought him work on Batman and Detective Comics, which of course were an ideal fit – one could say that Batman, the medium’s original creature of the night, was the character he was always meant to draw. Whilst at DC he also worked on Wonder Woman, The Spectre and innovative detective miniseries Nathaniel Dusk. Rarely if ever out of work, in his later years he pencilled for myriad companies such as Dark Horse, Eclipse, and even Archie, and did return to Marvel for the odd Daredevil book, as well as illustrating a Dracula miniseries with Marv Wolfman for Dark Horse.

One of the industry’s most treasured and respected figures, Colan’s timeless work has remained remarkably captivating.

Here’s links through to the other entries in our 101 Greatest so far as well

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.46: George Perez

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.47: Michael William Kaluta

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.48: Cary Nord

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.49: Frank Quitely

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.50: Mike Ploog

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.51: Johnny Craig

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.52: Darwyn Cooke

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.53: Steve Dillon

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.54: Gil Kane

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.55: Michael Zulli

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.56: John Romita

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.57: Joe Maneely

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.58: Marshall Rogers

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.59: John Severin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.60: Alex Toth

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.61: Brian Bolland

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.62: David Mazzuchelli

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.63 Reed Crandall

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.64 Harry Anderson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.65 Nick Cardy

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.66 Matt Wagner

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.67 Bryan Hitch

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.68 Shawn Martinbrough

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.69 Al Feldstein

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.70 Nestor Redondo

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.71 Tarpe Mills

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.72 Eduardo Risso

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.73 JH Williams III

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.74 Irv Novick

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.75 Dan Zolnerowich

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.76 Gilbert Shelton

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.77 Tommy Lee Edwards

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.78: Sean Phillips

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.79: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.80: Dan DeCarlo

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.81: Marie Severin

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.82: John Paul Leon

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.83: Jim Lee

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.84: Denys Cowan

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.85: Ross Andru

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.86: Paul Gustavson

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.87: George Evans

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.88: Michael Golden

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.89: Matt Baker

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.90: Todd McFarlane

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.91: Fiona Staples

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.92: Carl Barks

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.93: Carmine Infantino

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.94: Alan Davis

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.95: CC Beck

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.96: Syd Shores

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.97: Bob Fujitani

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.98: Tim Sale

Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.99: Jim Aparo

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